Glasgow’s Queen Street Railway Station

When traveling to Glasgow in Scotland you will find that the Glasgow Queen Street railway station is the second main line terminus for the city. This massive railway terminus is situated between George Street and Cathedral Street Bridge on the northern end of Queen Street. It enjoys a good reputation and is the third busiest railway station in the country.

The Queen Street train station was built in 1842 for the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. Later it became part of the North British Railway, but for years it struggled with a long and tedious climb through a tunnel to Cowlairs which was facilitated by a stationary hauling engine. Fortunately, the advent of the diesel train has meant that this steep leg of the trip which was once such a huge obstacle for steam trains can now be tackled by the trains themselves without any assistance and with little decrease in speed. In 1966 the Glasgow Queen Street station gained even more business with the closure of the adjacent Buchanan Street station. All services previously run from that station were transferred to the Queen Street station and this meant more business, but also more congestion. Trains had to be made longer to cater for the extra passengers and this created certain difficulties for train operators. In fact, the small space in which the station is confined means that it is difficult to take six coaches on a single train to the station. While this certainly created problems in the past, the gradual decrease in use of trains in general has seen the issue resolved.

Currently, the Glasgow Queen Street train station serves as the main point of access from Glasgow to northern and eastern Scotland. It is built on two levels and the entire station falls under the management of ScotRail. The uppermost level conducts traffic to the major cities in Scotland as well as any towns or cities which may be situated along the way. These major cities include Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness. Modern trains are able to complete the trip from Glasgow to Edinburgh in approximately 45 minutes and the station is always busy. The lower level of the train station caters to Scotland’s suburban electric train network. This network will take you across the city as well as to the Firth of Clyde and to Airdrie. The reasons for the stations’ popularity are clear, so why not make use of it during your next trip to Scotland? You may be surprised at how much you enjoy taking the train…

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